Privacy policy

Last updated: 11 July 2026

This website (benjaminpnewton.com) is a personal website operated by Benjamin P. Newton, an individual based in Perth, Western Australia. It is not run by a company. In this policy, "I", "me", and "my" refer to Benjamin P. Newton, and "you" refers to a visitor to the site.

This policy explains what personal information I collect through the site, why I collect it, how it is protected, and the choices and rights you have. If you have any questions, the best way to reach me is through the contact form.

Who is responsible for your information

I run this site personally and I decide how the limited personal information described below is handled. There is no company, no advertising network, and no data broker involved. I do not sell your personal information, and I never will.

What I collect and why

Newsletter subscription

If you choose to subscribe, I collect your email address so I can send you the updates you asked for. Subscription is opt-in: you are only added because you asked to be.

Your email address is stored encrypted at rest. Each subscriber's email is held only as ciphertext under a separate key that belongs to that subscriber. You can unsubscribe at any time using the one-click link in any email I send, or from the preferences page linked in those emails. Unsubscribing stops the emails but keeps your address, still encrypted, so you can resubscribe later if you choose. If instead you ask to be erased, that per-subscriber key is destroyed, which makes the stored email permanently unrecoverable.

Contact form

When you send a message through the contact form, I receive the email address, subject, and message you provide. I use these only to read and reply to your enquiry. Your email address is used as the reply-to address so I can respond. I do not add contact-form senders to the newsletter.

Technical information and security

Like any website, my server briefly handles technical request data, including your IP address. I use this transiently to keep the site secure: for example, to rate-limit abusive or automated requests, and to keep an append-only security log of sensitive actions (such as sign-in attempts when someone manages a subscription). This information is used for security and integrity only. I do not use it to build a profile of you or to track you across other websites.

Cookies

The site uses a small number of strictly necessary functional cookies. It sets no analytics or advertising cookies at present; if that ever changes, such cookies are optional and only set with your consent, which you can review or withdraw at any time on the cookie preferences page. The Cookie Policy lists each cookie and its purpose.

How your information is protected

Subscriber email addresses are encrypted at rest under a per-subscriber key, as described above. Access to the systems that run the site is limited. No method of transmission or storage is ever completely secure, but I keep the amount of personal information collected deliberately small, which is itself a protection.

How long information is kept

I keep your subscriber email while you are subscribed, and, if you unsubscribe, I retain it (still encrypted) so you can resubscribe. When you request erasure, the key protecting your email is destroyed and the data becomes unrecoverable. Contact-form messages are kept only as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and any reasonable follow-up. Security log entries are kept for a limited period for security and integrity purposes.

Your rights and choices

You can:

• Access the personal information I hold about you by asking through the contact form.
• Correct information that is wrong or out of date.
• Unsubscribe at any time using the one-click link in any newsletter email, or from the preferences page.
• Request erasure of your information. For a subscription, you can unsubscribe to stop the emails, or ask me to erase what I hold, which destroys the key that protects your email and makes it unrecoverable.

I will respond to any reasonable request in line with applicable privacy law.

International visitors

The site is operated from Australia and is governed by Australian law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. It can be visited from anywhere in the world. If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR, including rights of access, correction, erasure, and objection; you can exercise them through the contact form. By using the site you understand that any information you choose to provide is handled in Australia.

Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed. Please check back occasionally.

Contact

For any privacy question or request, please use the contact form.